Thursday links and comments

This is funny. Alan Dershowitz has an article calling out Jimmy Carter for refusing to debate his book which he says he wrote to stimulate debate.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is pleading with the United States not to hand over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi government. This clown hasn't had a good word to say about the United States since the early 1960's and all of a sudden he'd rather his buddy Saddam be held by us. Nope. Most of Saddam crimes were committed against the Iraqi people so it is appropriate for them to carry out his sentence.

Terence Jeffrey of Human Events wrote a column titled Ten Principles of Conservatism. Mind you, these are not necessarily principles of Republicans. Here is one from his list, click the link to read the rest.

7. The Constitution Means What It Says

Believing in the God-given rights of man and understanding the imperfect nature of human beings, the Framers crafted a Constitution designed to protect the former from the latter. Many of the problems in U.S. government would be resolved if the President, Congress and Courts limited themselves and each other to the authority the Constitution actually grants them.

This is hilarious. I get the impression Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell will not be exchanging Christmas cards.

Victor Davis Hanson is always worth reading. Today is no exception. Hopefully, everyone running for president in 2008 reads Hanson's suggestions near the end of this column.

Here are a few starting suggestions:

Bluntly identify radical Islam as fascistic - without worrying whether some Muslims take offense when we will talk honestly about the extremists in their midst.

Lastly, Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov died suddenly after 21 years of iron rule. Most Americans have probably never heard of him, but this could end up being very important to the European economy. Turkmenistan is a major exporter of natural gas and any disruption during the winter months could be catastrophic. When a country has been under totalitarian rule of one man for a prolonged period, his departure can leave a difficult void to fill. In case you were wondering, Turkmenistan's population is 89% Muslim. Definitely bears watching.